1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a building panel fastener construction for attaching building panels such as stone panels or glass panels to a primary structure such as panel frames or a skeletons of buildings.
2. Description of the Prior Art
It is known as a type of curtain wall composing the exterior surface of buildings, to mount building panels such as stone panels and glass panels edge-to-edge one after another vertically and horizontally on a primary structure in chessboard like pattern.
There have been various methods of attaching such building panels to a primary structure.
One typical example of such attaching methods is disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Laid-open Publication No. 61-147824, wherein, each building panel is provided on its upper and lower ends with a pair of upper and lower downward catching hooks, respectively. Correspondingly, the skeleton frame of a building is provided with a pair of upper and lower upward supporting hooks in the corresponding locations. The building panels are attached to the skeleton frame of the building with the downward catching hooks of the former snugly fit into the upward catching hooks of the latter. In this conventional method, placing a panel nearly in contact with the building skeleton with the downward catching hooks of the former slightly upward of the upward supporting hooks of the latter and then lowering the panel slightly along the building skeleton would simply cause the panel attached to the building skeleton.
This method of construction provides many advantages. However, this method absolutely requires first placing a panel nearly in contact with the skeleton slightly upward of where it is to go, so that the upper downward catching hooks of the panel to be attached would be liable to butt the lower end of a panel already mounted immediately above. So, it is necessary to mount panels on the skeleton from the bottom to the top of the building skeleton. Furthermore, it is impossible to dismount a broken panel--except those on the uppermost row--from the building skeleton for repair or replacement.